Filmed on Silent Standard 8mm film by former British civil service officer, Ian Urquhart in Baram District, 4th Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, 1954-1965. Restored and digitised at 24fps. Ian's annotations have been transcribed in their original form. Known acronyms are described. See below for more information about Ian Urquhart.
Reel 17 Annotations
December 1960. Tulip Tree. Land Dayak Kampung Terbat.
Tulip tree.
Reception by women for festival at Land Dayak Kampung Tebase.
Headman, Tua Gawai head of the festivities waving a cock.
Elderly women dancing.
Headman holding a cock, outside the longhouse.
About Ian Urquhart
Ian Urquhart was
a decorated British soldier, posted to Sarawak, where he served from
1947 to 1965. A brilliant linguist with an abiding interest in learning
about other people and their cultures, he was a natural fit to be a
civil service officer.
In addition to his
administrative duties, he studied the indigenous communities he
encountered focusing on their varied languages. From 1951 to 1959, Ian
published several articles published by the Sarawak Museum Journal.
It
was during this period that he conducted many trips into the jungles of
Sarawak, in particular the Kelabit highlands and the Ulu Baram. From
1957 his wife Bunty accompanied him and contributed to some of the
filming.
It was these trips that he documented
on Silent Standard/Regular 8mm colour and b/w cinefilm leaving his
family and the people of Sarawak with not only a detailed account of his
life there, he annotated all 30 reels, 23 of which are available in
this collection.